England may have given us the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Radiohead, but the list of legendary bands from the United States is just as impressive: The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, R.E.M., and much more. To celebrate America's birthday, here's a ranking of the ten best American bands of the last twenty years.
(Note: In order to qualify for this list, a band had to form no earlier than 1994, which meant I had to disqualify some excellent bands such as Modest Mouse and the Roots. Solo acts were not considered either, so Jay Reatard, St. Vincent, and Kanye West were also out.)
10. The Strokes
Though the Strokes' recent albums aren't really anything to get excited about, the band's first two albums, Is This It and Room On Fire, set the stage for modern indie rock culture and brought back New York City cool with an unexpectedly intricate and carefully constructed power-pop sound.
9. Vivian Girls
At the other end of the NYC rock spectrum from the Strokes was Vivian Girls, a cacophonous trio from Brooklyn that injected punk rock into C86 and girl group pop, setting the stage for higher profile acts such as Best Coast. Sadly, Vivian Girls split earlier this year after just seven years together, but left us with three incredible studio albums.
8. Screaming Females
Being from New Jersey, I'm definitely biased about how great New Brunswick trio Screaming Females is, but there's absolutely no denying that this band is a powerhouse. Lead singer and guitarist Marisa Paternoster is truly one of the greatest guitarists I've ever seen in my life, and she writes songs that sound like Dinosaur Jr. on mushrooms.
7. Wilco
Other than maybe Will Oldham, no other artist in recent memory has taken Americana and twisted it into so many unexpected shapes as Chicago's Wilco. This is why Wilco is the only hipster band that dads actually like, because the band's experimentation is held together by stellar traditional songwriting. Just look no further than "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart": at its core, it's simply a three chord folk song, but its surreal lyrics and avant-garde production set it over the edge.
6. LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem was the Strokes of electronic music, another band with plenty of NYC wit and attitude that shot life back into a tired genre. As heartbreaking as it was, I think the band's 2011 split was a brilliant move, as the '00s were really the ultimate decade for this music to exist in.
5. The Promise Ring
Milwaukee's the Promise Ring is the only emo band that actually puts me in a good mood rather than a mopey, introspective one, and it's entirely due to the band's bright guitars and singer Davey Von Bohlen's brilliant power pop songwriting, which is easily among the best (and most underrated) in all of indie rock.
4. Of Montreal
No, Of Montreal is not actually from Canada (as I explained in a previous article), but from the alternative rock hotbed of Athens, Georgia. Few American bands have made a transformation as radical as Of Montreal, who formed in 1996 as a twee pop band inspired by the Beatles and the Beach Boys but gradually morphed into a blindingly psychedelic electro-funk monster, like an indie rock version of Prince. Both versions of the band have made incredible albums, anchored by frontman Kevin Barnes' brilliantly unpredictable songwriting.
3. Sleater-Kinney
In 2001, Time magazine named Olympia, WA trio Sleater-Kinney as America's best rock band, a distinction that the band wholly deserved. Though the band's roots were in punk, its music was much stranger and more off-kilter, with Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker's guitars (there was no bassist) intertwining like no other band since Television. Carrie, I know you're busy with Portlandia, but please come back to music sometime soon. We all miss you.
2. The White Stripes
I haven't been the biggest fan of Jack White's solo endeavors, but I still think the White Stripes were truly one of the shining examples of modern American rock. Any band that can sound like a cross between Hank Williams, the 13th Floor Elevators, and Beat Happening is top notch in my book.
1. Deerhunter
People have said that Jack White is the only true rock star working right now, but those people aren't playing enough attention to Deerhunter's Bradford Cox, who's essentially the modern American equivalent of David Bowie. Few other musicians today can match Cox's charisma, sonic ingenuity, and most importantly, songwriting chops. A brilliant aesthetic is nothing without great songs, and Deerhunter's music is the perfect blend of the two.
Celebrate your first amendment rights and let me know what I got wrong in the comments section! Who do you think are the greatest American bands of the last twenty years?
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